School Bathroom Issues

Mackenzie Ault

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The bathrooms here at PHS are a big problem for most of the students. In between classes, we have only six minutes to use the bathroom and walk across the school to get to class. Most students choose to use the bathroom during class change; however, it is nearly impossible to make it to a bathroom, use the bathroom, and get to class on time. This is an issue because we only have one bathroom unlocked during class change. When everyone in the school is trying to use one bathroom, it can get very crowded. The lines are long and it gives us little to no time to use the bathroom and get to class. The powers that be that I spoke with said that they try and unlock the other bathrooms during class change, but sometimes it is too late or they just 'don't have time' that day. We shouldn't have to worry about getting to the bathroom and class on time to avoid silent lunch. The reason the bathrooms are like this is because of us students. The things that are done (smoking/vaping) and problems we cause (vandalism, skipping, and fights) in the bathrooms is the reason they are locked up and closed. A small percentage of students contribute to these issues, but the whole student body is being punished for it. Due to these problems, the administration and security decided this was the best option. We as a whole made it difficult for the administration to make this decision. This issue was caused by the students and the students play a role in fixing it. We need to be more responsible. Will we ever get all bathrooms unlocked again or will we always have to rush to class for the rest of high school? It’s our decision.